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Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, has today called on Labour-run Haringey Council to ensure that the distribution of new funding for education is truly fair.

After a hard fought five year campaign, Lynne Featherstone and the Haringey Liberal Democrats secured fairer funding for education in Haringey. As a result of this, an extra £7.3 million has been allocated for Haringey’s schools.

The additional funds from the fairer funding settlement have gone a long way to ending the long-standing funding anomaly – which saw local schools receiving outer London funding but paying inner London costs. Haringey Council will shortly be able to allocate the extra money directly to schools in the borough.

The £7.3million in fairer funding money is in addition to the £8.8million allocated to Haringey schools through pupil premium. The pupil premium is a separate amount based on a Liberal Democrat Government policy to give more money to schools in accordance with the number of disadvantaged children.

London Liberal Democrats led by Brian Paddick on Friday gave their firm backing to Lynne Featherstone MP’s long-running campaign for fair funding for the Borough’s schools.

The mayoral candidate joined the fight for better school funding as the second leg in a consultation to simplify the school funding system came to a close on 11th October. This round of consultation has seen an even stronger backing by residents, with close to 130 local people, teachers and schools making personal submissions to the consultation.

In addition to fighting for local schools to get fairer funding in a new funding formula, Liberal Democrats are already delivering more funding for local schools, through the pupil premium. It was last week announced that this year, schools will get close to £500 per deprived pupil, an increase on the £430 promised earlier in the year, adding up to an extra £2.2 million for schools in Hornsey and Wood Green. For the Borough, that adds up to a boost of £5.3 million this school year alone.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I’m delighted to have such a strong backing in the battle for fair funding, both from Brian and his team and from local residents who really have come out in force to respond to the consultation. Thank you all.

“I am sure that this strong support will make a world of difference and hopefully tip the balance in favour of our children.

“But local schools are already reaping the benefits of Liberal Democrats in government, by getting an extra £5.3 million to support deprived pupils this year alone. I’m proud to see us delivering for local schools already and I look forward to hearing the outcome of this consultation in the next few months.”

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate, Brian Paddick, adds:

“I was appalled to hear of the long-standing unfairness in the way Haringey schools have been funded over the years.

“But it’s great to see the new government taking strong action to simplify the school funding system and looking specifically at the case of Haringey. I am 100 per cent behind Lynne in her long-running battle for this injustice to end. Give Haringey’s children fair funding now!”

Local residents have this week joined MP Lynne Featherstone and local Liberal Democrats in a defining moment in the four year battle for fair funding for Haringey’s schools, by jointly sending in a strong response to the government’s school funding consultation.

At least fifty local people united behind Lynne to help send a clear message to the government that they should take the opportunity to end the injustice of Haringey’s schoolchildren receiving up to £1540 less than pupils in neighbouring boroughs.

The consultation, that ended this week, was the first of a two part consultation into school funding. This first leg sought views on creating a fairer school formula which campaigners say needs to consider the fact that Haringey pays inner-London costs but the current system only gives the borough’s schools outer-London funding – now £1540 less per pupil.

The second part of the consultation is expected to take place later on this year and look into the finer details of the funding system.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“It’s amazing to see how residents here in Hornsey and Wood Green can be united to help fight for such an important cause as fair funding for our children’s schools. Together we have made a really strong case for correcting the historical injustice that sees out children being short-changed by up to £1540 each, and finally get funding equality with pupils in neighbouring boroughs.

“For thirteen years, Labour underfunded Haringey’s schools, and ignored plea after plea for justice. It’s great to see Lib Dems in government taking decisive action for fairer school funding.”

Cllr Katherine Reece, Liberal Democrat Children’s Spokesperson, adds:

“This could be another giant leap forward in our four-year campaign for fair funding. I’m glad that so many residents have taken the time and effort to get involved – without them this would not have happened.

“This was the first of a two leg consultation, and we all look forward to mobilising the parents of Haringey to make an equally strong case in the next leg, likely to be launched in the summer.”

To continue her fight for fair funding for Haringey’s schools, Lynne Featherstone MP is this week contacting thousands of local residents, encouraging them to respond to a consultation into school funding.

The consultation, the first of two that will be launched this year, went live today, and looks at the principles of changing the current school funding formula, that sees Haringey’s schools getting up to £1540 less than schools in neighbouring boroughs like Hackney and Camden. The review, which runs until the 25th May, asks for residents’ views on how the current system should change. A second consultation, that will look more specifically at new funding formulas, will be launched later in the summer.

“For too long Labour starved Haringey’s schools of funding. But thanks to Liberal Democrats in Government, this situation is now being reviewed.

“It’s great that the Education Secretary acknowledged Haringey’s unfair situation in a recent letter to me. But the next step now is to make sure we all respond to this first consultation.

“We need to show a resounding support for a change to the unfair way our schools are funded, and especially that the additional costs of employing teachers and other staff in this part of London should be recognised. This is our big chance, please don’t let it slip by!”

Liberal Democrat Children’s spokesperson Cllr Rachel Allison adds:

“This is the first of two reviews we will see this year. This first consultation looks at the desire for change, and will form the basis for the second twelve week consultation later in the year.

“We need this consultation to be backed by as many people as possible, to give us the best options for the second consultation in the summer. Please help our schools get a fair funding system that properly covers their costs, by responding to both reviews, to give our children the best possible start in life.”

The coalition government has announced it will be reviewing Haringey’s unfair school funding in the spring, after years of campaigning by local Liberal Democrats. Lynne Featherstone MP received the encouraging news in a recent response from the education minister Michael Gove, after writing to him about Haringey’s unfair funding.

In the letter, the Minister recognises Haringey’s special school funding case, where local pupils get up to £1,300 less than students in neighbouring boroughs, like Hackney and Camden. He has also confirmed that Haringey’s unique circumstances will be considered as part of a review to make the national school funding formula fairer and more transparent, due to be launched in the spring.

I went with a Haringey deputation to meet with Lord Hill – the Schools Minister last week. In the deputation were: Cllr Lorna Reith (Haringey Executive Member for Children’s Services), David Lammy, Tottenham MP, Peter Lewis, Director of Children’s Services at Haringey and Tony Brockman from Haringey NUT.

This was a timely plea to the Government to push our case for the outcome of the two options in the recently completed consultation on funding formulas for our schools to be the ‘Hybrid’ option. To all those locally who know how long and how hard I and the Liberal Democrats have campaigned against Labour’s long standing unfair funding to Haringey – you know how important this is.

Apart from our usual LibDem petitions and email list – we were at the school gates getting people to respond to the consultation by the then Labour Government on funding. (A consultation they had been forced into by our campaign and others around the country where the unfairness in funding was now putting schools into deficit – and denying the children in those areas the teachers they needed). And clearly – the people in Haringey responded splendidly – with something like 1500 people letting the the new government know exactly how unfair the old Labour funding formula was and how much we need that money in Haringey with all the challenges we have. It had clearly been noted – the depth and volume of feeling from parents and teachers and all in Haringey!

In Haringey our children get £1300 less per head than neighbouring boroughs like Camden, Islington and Hackney. When I met the previous government Minister on this very outrageous inequality – even he admitted that Haringey with its £1300 diferential was the worst ‘cliffedge’ (difference between close neighbours) in the county.

Obviously – the new coalition government’s ‘pupil premium’ in the coalition agreement – where £2.5 billion will come on stream starting in the second year of government – and where the money follows the pupil with special needs or on free school meals (and which will benefit every single school in Haringey) will be a blessing. However, that will bring us in a lot of money – but equally it will bring money into those boroughs like Camden and Hackney too.

So first off I wanted to make sure that when that money comes on stream from the ‘pupil premium’ – Haringey is first in line for it! However, the meat of this meeting was about the results of the consultation on the funding formula – the funding formula that has for so long underfunded Haringey.

The ‘hybrid’ option will close some of the gap in our funding. We are £35million adrift every single year. The ‘hybrid’ option will move us half way towards closing the gap (estimate only).

We each made the case – very well I thought. And it was well-received. Lord Hill clearly got the message and the timing of this deputation was perfect as the decision is about to be made. He did seem receptive. So the case was well made – and now we have to keep everything crossed that we get our funding!

It’s several years since I discovered the terrible unfair funding Haringey children get and started the Campaign for Fair Funding . Our children get £1318 less per head for their schools than neighbouring boroughs like Camden, Islington and Hackney. We have now reached the point where the Government is finally consulting on the funding formula for schools to start in 2011.

After a long campaign and lots of help from all of you – we now have the opportunity to respond forcefully to the consultation that could help address that existing unfairness that sees Haringey’s children getting £1318 less per pupil than in neighbouring inner London boroughs. I have contacted thousands of local residents with information on how they can help.

The consultation is running until the 7th June. The Government is consulting on a change in the funding formula, where one option would give Haringey’s children 6.6% more funding (around £10.8 million), and one option would keep the current funding arrangements that mean Haringey schools pay ‘inner-London’ wages but get ‘outer-London’ money.

This is our opportunity to do something about the Labour Government’s unfair funding of Haringey schools. (Needless to say if Liberal Democrats were to win the coming election – our ‘pupil premium’ would deliver fair funding for Haringey children and bring about £30 million into our schools extra each year).

The funding options put forward by the Government are far from perfect – and don’t fully correct the current unfairness. But the ‘hybrid’ option would at least increase our funding by £10.8 million– and that’s better than no increase! So please take a minute to respond – this is our chance to make a difference for our kids’ futures.